30 annual report 2011 31 CEO’s overview OF GROUP OPERATIONS 30 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 31

Despite an uncertain economic NEWSPAPERS climate and a fast-changing The Group’s print media held its ground against increased media landscape, SPH’s core competition from various new media platforms, with total business remained resilient newspaper circulation averaging 981,339 copies per day, only a slight year-on-year decline of 0.2 per cent. for FY 2011. SPH’s newspapers performed well during the General Elections period, when total daily sales averaged The Group’s net profit was 1,037,000 copies, an increase of 71,000 copies. $389 million. Its revenue from , in particular, scored a record high of 186,000 copies on Election Results Day. the Newspaper and Magazine segment grew year-on-year by held its position as the best-read paper in Singapore with a daily readership of 1.4 million, $39 million (4 per cent) according to the Nielsen Media Index 2010 survey. to $1,013 million. Aided by a subscription drive, the Group’s flagship registered a year-on-year growth of 0.6 per cent to 354,654 copies. It also launched its iPad application as Print advertisement revenue well as a monthly newsletter for subscribers. rose by $42 million (5.7 per continued to establish its reputation as an authoritative source and insightful voice of information cent), boosted by strong display and opinions for Chinese communities at home and advertisement sales. abroad. Mr Goh Sin Teck became its new editor after former editor Mr Lim Jim Koon retired from the post to become its editorial advisor.

The New Paper remained the second best-read paid English daily in Singapore (Nielsen Media Index 2010). More significantly, it was the top choice for young readers in the 15 to 29 age group, and the second most popular newspaper with advertisers (Marketing Magazine). The paper’s revamped website was launched in April 2011. 32 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 33 CEO’s overview OF GROUP OPERATIONS

NEWSPAPERS

The Business Times secured its position as Singapore’s The Central Integrated Newsroom of Shin Min Daily News best-read business daily (Nielsen Media Index 2010). and launched Victory Trail, a tabloid-size The paper kept up its busy schedule of events including horse racing guide in November 2010. The bilingual guide the Singapore Business Awards and Singapore became a must-read for all race goers. Corporate Awards to promote excellence in the business community. Junior, a fortnightly Chinese publication for primary one and two students, was launched in Berita Harian continued to actively engage its community March 2011, adding to the existing portfolio of student through various activities. In March, the paper’s student newspapers comprising zbCOMMA and Thumbs Up. media club, Kelab Obor, celebrated its fifth anniversary. The print Classifieds business also saw a leap forward, celebrated its 75th anniversary with a new with the installation of a new Classified Advertisements look. The paper sold a record 29,300 copies on May 14, Sales Hub (CASH), which allowed the CATS call-centre 2011, the highest in its history. Mr Jawharilal Rajendran sales representatives to book advertisements in English, took over the helm from Ms Nirmala Murugaian as the Chinese and Malay. This opened up opportunities to Tamil daily’s editor in June this year. sell advertisements across different SPH publications, and enhanced the efficiency for CATS Classified, tabla!, the free English weekly launched by Tamil Murasu which handles about three million advertisements Ltd for the Indian community in Singapore, saw growth in every year. both readership and advertising revenue. The paper has a weekly readership of about 120,000, via its 30,000 print We also launched the SPH Media Widget, an interactive copies and website. virtual tool for advertisers and advertising agencies to download onto their computer desktop so that they can ’s bilingual readership jumped in FY 2010 to easily access SPH’s extensive suite of cross-media products 345,000, up from 320,000 the previous year. The paper and services when they plan for their ad campaigns. launched its Facebook page to interact with readers. In April, the free compact paper held its fourth My Paper Executive Look contest, attracting 530 applicants including investment bankers, lawyers and doctors.

Lianhe Wanbao enjoyed a strong following for its entertainment and health coverage. Product branding events such as the Lianhe Wanbao Beauty & Healthcare Fair and the Singapore Entertainment Awards were well received by readers.

The daily readership of our other evening newspaper, Shin Min Daily News, soared to 451,000, driven by its winning combination of human-interest stories, sports, soccer, racing coverage, plus food and lifestyle features that appealed to its heartland readers. Shin Min also organised its signature events including the popular Shin Min Fun Drive and Shin Min City Hawker Food Hunt to engage readers. 32 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 33 34 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 CEO’s overview OF GROUP OPERATIONS 35

magazine combined the essence of the Chinese quarterly MAGAZINES magazine with its own unique content covering a wide range of health and wellness topics, including western and eastern healthcare practices. The Nielsen Media Index 2010 placed , Female, Home & Décor and Men’s Health at the top of Chinese entertainment magazine UW (U-Weekly) their respective product categories. Her World further celebrated its 10th anniversary with a compact sized new extended its reach and is now read by nearly a quarter of look and punchy content. a million readers every month. ZbBz, the luxury magazine for bilingual elites, maintained Home & Décor also launched its inaugural annual robust advertising revenue growth while delivering high supplement, Renovate, to great reception from readers quality journalism in its second year in the market. and advertisers alike.

Two spin-off titles which were formerly released annually - The Peak Domain and ICON Weddings - became biannuals. NEWSPAPER SERVICES

SPH Magazines continued to extend its online presence by making strategic investments to boost its regional Our print products continued to win international footprint. It acquired a 34 per cent stake in Antarctica recognition for its print quality. SPH won awards for all of Interactive Private Limited, the holding company of the its three entries to the International Color Quality Club. Luxury Insider Group. The Group owns online properties, The awards reaffirmed the quality standards achieved by Luxury-Insider.com and Inluxe.cn; luxury magazine our three printing presses, the Colorliner, KBA and UNISET. Baccarat published in Hong Kong; as well as ULTIMA magazine, a custom title for Citibank’s high net worth The upgrading and renewal project at Print Centre clients. was completed in July 2011, covering the three key components including the colour upgrade, control renewal In addition, popular forum-based IT website, and computer-to-plate systems. The UNISET press, www.hardwarezone.com, rolled out its new platform to which has been optimised to print commercial publications, Malaysia and Philippines, providing localised content to completed more than 250 print jobs of various formats and reach high growth markets as Internet access continued sizes, with pagination ranging from four to 64 pages, to grow significantly in Southeast Asian markets. and print orders ranging from 1,000 to 160,000 copies.

HardwareMAG celebrated its 10th anniversary and SPH Buzz Pte Ltd increased its retail footprint to a total of 67 became the first home-grown technology magazine to ‘pods’ over the last five years. These outlets, representing a be made available digitally and on iPad for its local and new generation of newsstands, fulfilled our readers’ appetite foreign audiences. for the latest publications, as well as provided up-to-date news feeds direct from our newsroom via a scrolling LED Another SPH subsidiary, Focus Publishing, also enjoyed display. a fruitful year. Its popular magazine Health No.1 became Singapore’s best-selling Chinese health and lifestyle The Buzz network also evolved into a modern quarterly magazine within a year of its launch. convenience chain by venturing into shopping malls and commercial locations whilst maintaining a foothold Following the success of Health No. 1, Wellness No. 1 at major bus interchanges. A new series of Buzz was launched in February 2011. The English health merchandise has also been successfully launched to further enrich its product offerings. 36 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 CEO’s overview OF GROUP OPERATIONS

NEW MEDIA

With the proliferation of smartphones and tablet devices in Zaobao.com continued to attract a strong following of the market, development and enhancement of applications Chinese-speaking audiences from around the world. on these platforms became a key focus to cater to the It currently draws 10 million monthly unique visitors and needs of users and advertisers. 100 million monthly page views on average, and has been consistently ranked the most popular print news and One of the major milestones in SPH’s new media media site in Singapore for five years by web-tracking development was the launch of The Straits Times on iPad. service Hitwise. Zaobao.com, in collaboration with The app was an instant hit with readers, garnering more SPH’s Interactive Business Unit, launched eNewstalk, than 126,000 downloads within 24 hours of its launch. an interactive Chinese e-learning platform for schools this year. The launch of the ST iPad and iPhone app not only reached out to more online readers, it also presented a new Bilingual news and entertainment web portal omy.sg opportunity for many advertisers who wanted to see their continued to break new ground in the social media scene campaigns presented on an impactful multimedia platform. with the launch of its “Social Media Fiesta” initiative. Mirroring the features of newspaper advertisements, It generated a lot of buzz in the social media scene with a new breed of “interactive print” advertisements were events such as the Singapore 4sq Day and Singapore created for the tablet platform. Social Media Day. omy.sg currently enjoys a steady following of over 550,000 unique visitors and 10 million Meanwhile, SPH’s suite of smartphone applications including page views on average each month. The Straits Times, Stomp, The Straits Times RazorTV, , SoShiok (Food), omy.sg (Entertainment), The New Leading Internet financial media and technology Paper (Football) successfully reached out to a new group ShareInvestor expanded its Investor Relations, generation of news consumers. Market Data Tools and IT services. The fully-owned subsidiary of SPH revamped its website and attracted With the target audience growing consistently and revenue more subscribers to its data services. In addition, from mobile advertising rising over 40 per cent year-on- it launched ShareInvestor Mobile for iPhones and Android year, there are plans to roll out more new apps for digital phones. The Group also won the contract to revamp the platforms soon. new Bursa Malaysia website. It expanded its regional presence by organising various cross-border investment Another new media highlight was the launch of the revamped fairs including the inaugural Indonesia GEMS 2011 and the straitstimes.com website, which incorporated Stomp, second Malaysia GEMS 2011. the paper’s popular citizen journalism site, and The Straits Times RazorTV, the online video content site. The integrated site, together with AsiaOne, which aggregates the Group’s online content, saw a 137 per cent jump in monthly page views to 220 million in August 2011 from 93 million in September 2010, while unique audience numbers grew by 60 per cent to 8.4 million in August 2011 from 5.2 million in September 2010. 37 38 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 39 CEO’s overview OF GROUP OPERATIONS

BOOK PUBLISHING OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

Straits Times Press (STP), SPH’s book-publishing arm, SPH MediaBoxOffice (SPHMBO) firmly established launched “Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to keep Singapore itself as the leading Digital Out-of-Home advertising going” in January this year. It was written by seven company with the largest number of inventories, journalists from The Straits Times based on extensive including eight large outdoor LED screens and more than interviews with the founding Prime Minister. The bestseller 450 indoor screens in mainly shopping malls and bank was translated into Chinese subsequently. branches island-wide.

Another notable book published by STP this year was The company’s dominance is most evident in large format “Diplomacy: A Singapore Experience”, written by former electronic billboards located in the Central Business Senior Minister Prof S Jayakumar. District, Orchard Road and suburban heartlands such as Toa Payoh and Clementi. It also has the most established network of digital screens in 23 shopping centres in Singapore, including recent additions such as Liang Court, PROPERTIES Tampines One and myVillage. The network reaches out to millions of consumers every month.

Paragon, SPH’s key property asset, continued to enjoy 100 SPHMBO was appointed by the National Heritage Board per cent occupancy for retail, medical and office space. as the organiser for the launch of “Singapore Biennale The mall is home to numerous international luxury brands 2011”. Featuring close to 25 international artists, it was and remains the destination of choice for the well-heeled the largest arts event in recent years. locals and tourists. In the face of competition from other malls along Orchard Road, Paragon embarked on a refurbishment Other major events organised and managed by SPHMBO of interior finishes in May 2010 to offer its shoppers a more included ‘Maybank NightWalk’, which attracted more compelling shopping experience. The whole enhancement than 10,000 participants at Marina Bay. The event was project was completed in December 2010. listed in the Singapore Book of Records for having the largest gathering of people taking part in a night walk in The Clementi Mall, SPH’s latest retail mall comprising Singapore. five levels of shopping space, officially opened on May 21, 2011. The mall has direct links to both the Clementi MRT Station and the bus interchange, in addition to two 40 storey HDB blocks above the retail podium. EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS

The Clementi Mall was 100 per cent leased ahead of its completion. Its anchor tenants include FairPrice Finest, Since its incorporation in 2008, Sphere Exhibits, Best Denki, Foodfare Foodcourt, BHG Departmental Store, SPH’s events and exhibitions arm, has organised a total Popular Bookstore and the Clementi Public Library. The mall of 22 exhibitions featuring 750 exhibitors and attracting has been attracting large crowds of shoppers and is expected over 1.5 million visitors. to make valuable contributions to SPH’s property portfolio. Sphere also successfully organised a series of well- received consumer events such as Beerfest Asia 2011 and Asian Masters 2011. Meanwhile, Exhibits Inc continued to RADIO be the leading organiser in the IT and F & B sectors with its signature events – COMEX, IT SHOW, Food and Beverage Fair and World Food Fair. SPH UnionWorks had another profitable year. It introduced Radio on the Go and became the first broadcaster to acquire Exhibits Inc also announced that COMEX, Singapore’s a mobile device allowing outdoor real-time broadcasts biggest IT and technology exhibition, will make its debut in with sound quality close to studio broadcasting. The new Beijing, China in 2012. It will be launched by Sphere Exhibits broadcasting and marketing tool enabled both 91.3 FM and (Beijing) Co Ltd, a joint venture between Exhibits Inc Pte Radio 100.3 to do live programmes from overseas. Ltd, AsiaPac Distribution Pte Ltd and AKL Beijing Limited. 38 Singapore Press Holdings annual report 2011 39

Paragon Food & Beverage Fair 2011

BizLink Exhibition Services enjoyed great success as a With the strong support of all stakeholders, we have been trade fair organiser with the Singapore Gifts & Premiums able to deliver a sustained performance in FY 2011. We also Fair returning for the 12th year in 2011. It was also the owe our good performance to our staff’s hard work and appointed event organiser for the Franchising & Licensing commitment. Asia show this year. I am confident that with the strong support of our Following the success of its inaugural trade show for readers, advertisers, customers, the collective strengths the construction industry, BuildTechAsia, Sphere will of our dedicated staff and union and strategic guidance continue to grow its trade sector to allow exhibitors from the Board, we will continue to live up to our to select from a range of Meetings, Incentive Travel, company’s brand statement – to be the region’s leading Conventions and Exhibitions to develop their business media organisation, engaging minds and enriching lives ideas and expansion initiatives. across multiple languages and platforms. BUSINESS OUTLOOK

The recent global events, including the historic downgrade of US sovereign credit and European debt woes, have caused fresh jitters in global financial markets. It has also affected the projected economic outlook for Singapore.

Given the uncertain forecast, we will continue to monitor our cost levels closely while devoting resources to operating our core newspaper business and growing adjacent businesses beyond print.

As the global media trend points towards digital publications as the next step in publishing innovation, we will continue to innovate and create media products which are relevant to the changing needs of our readers Chan Heng Loon, Alan and advertisers. Chief Executive Officer